I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices used to support a metal plate or other object as it is being cut using a laser or waterjet cutter. More particularly, the present invention relates to slats used to form a support surface for supporting such a metal plate or object.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Laser and waterjet cutting workstations typically include a table upon which a work piece may be placed and supported. Such devices typically include a plurality of slats, a grid made up of honeycomb-shaped cells or the like. Such devices support the work piece beneath the laser or waterjet during a cutting operation. When a plurality of slats are used, the upper surfaces of such slats are relatively thin, the goal being to prevent the support surface from being damaged by the laser or waterjet after the item to be cut has been perforated.
In the prior art, slats have typically been made out of steel or copper. Steel slats offer the advantage of being relatively low in cost. The disadvantage of using steel to form a slat is that slag generated during the cutting operation will stick to the steel surfaces of the slats making the slats unusable after a very short period of time. While this is not as significant of a problem with copper slats, the high cost of copper drives many away from using slats made cut of copper. Thus, there is a real need to have a slat which is low cost like a steel slat and offers the solution to the slag problem like a copper slat.
Various attempts have been made in the prior art to achieve the low cost of steel or aluminum slats and, at the same time, obtain the benefits derived from using copper. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,903 to Anderson granted on Dec. 1, 1991 discloses a plurality of support bars having lugs which extend from the upper edge of the support bars and caps covering the lugs. The Anderson patent also describes the use of support bars having an upper edge covered by a conductive cap. The Anderson patent suggests that copper may be employed as the conductive cap. European Patent Publication No. EP2255914 B1 dated May 23, 2012 by Jorg Buchmüller describes support bars with a plurality of raised elements. Specifically, Buchmüller describes these support bars as comprising a steel strip supporting steel sleeves. Copper pins or pegs are inserted into and supported by the steel sleeves to join the copper pins to the steel strip. Adding such sleeves to the support bars, of course, increases the cost of the support bars. Further, the sleeves increase the overall thickness of the slat which can create other issues when cutting.